Quote Originally Posted by Buffalobiian View Post
I was having trouble running out of lockpicks until I started buying them from the thieve's guild. I was trying to work out if the audio does anything to point you in the right direction when you turn the move the pick (without rotating the lock), but I couldn't find any patterns. Now Oblivion's lock-picking system was one that made sense. A lot of people didn't like it, but the idea was good. It was hard and gruelling, but the human player (us) can learn to accel at it by nailing down the timing/audio cues.

This one's based on chance more so than skill.
Well, yes and no. It's a direct copy of Fallout's lockpicking , and the zones are in the same spots. The only difference is that the lockpicks are substantially more fragile. Fallout's hairpins always broke on the third touch, Skyrim's break by force exerted on them.

Hints:
- Always try dead center first. [edit: Unless you have the perk that starts it near it, obviously.] Just a smidgen of a turn to see if it is there. Novice and Apprentice locks are more likely to be there.
- The two next most likely spots are at either 2 o'clock or 10 o'clock.
- If you're light enough on the keys (note: I'm often not), you'll be able to find where too far back is without breaking a pick.
- From there, it's simple bracketing function.
- The only luck involved is picking left or right correctly the first time. I always try right first.
- Remember, light touch keeps the picks from snapping.

It's skill and experience, but it's just not auditory or visual. It's probability and math. Like gun-kata, only not as cool.